Laity

Since the resignation of Pope Benedict, we have been treated to the truly tawdry spectacle of life in the Vatican at this time in history. There are stories of Papal shoes, rings, palaces and castles. We see pictures of old men dressed in ecclesiastical finery sitting in palatial rooms at the Vatican. There are stories of corruption and jockeying for position among the cardinals. We are informed of the number old men who will have voting rights at the conclave called to elect the new pope.

Since the resignation of Pope Benedict, we have been treated to the truly tawdry spectacle of life in the Vatican at this time in history. There are stories of Papal shoes, rings, palaces and castles. We see pictures of old men dressed in ecclesiastical finery sitting in palatial rooms at the Vatican. There are stories of corruption and jockeying for position among the cardinals. We are informed of the number old men who will have voting rights at the conclave called to elect the new pope.

After a period of polite platitudes at a regional church meeting yesterday in a downtown Baltimore hotel, the bishop threw a challenge to the laity: "Get down to the nitty-gritty. More provocative questions, please."The floodgates opened.Soon, African Methodist Episcopal Bishop H. Hartford Bookins was conceding that "some of the churches in our district are literally split asunder." The district he heads covers North Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland.The questions did get specific.

While peeling potatoes in the church kitchen of Christ the King one morning, Mary Branch laughed over how family and friends sometimes joked about her tireless devotion to the Dundalk parish. "Over the years, it was suggested that I move a cot into the boiler room," Branch said. The lifelong resident of Turners Station was reaching for a touch of humor at a time of much sadness in her church. Christ the King, a Roman Catholic parish established in 1956 by the Josephite religious order to serve the nearby steel town of Turners Station, will close Sunday.

As members of Holy Korean Martyrs parish recently commemorated the first year at the church's new Woodlawn site, what should have been a cause for celebration instead found the Baltimore area's only Roman Catholic Korean parish deeply divided.A sizable minority of Holy Korean Martyrs' parishioners are demanding the ouster of their leader, the Rev. Joseph Y. Kim, accusing him of fiscal and administrative mismanagement and of overstaying his welcome.Kim, his supporters and the Archdiocese of Baltimore say the allegations lack merit.

The Central Maryland Ecumenical Council will explore and celebrate the role of women in laity and the clergy in a one-day conference, "Women in Churches," on Friday.The conference will begin with a 9 a.m. worship service and feature workshops and discussions before closing at 2 p.m. with prayer and song. It will be held at Grace United Methodist Church, 5407 N. Charles St.Men are welcome. A $10 registration fee includes a boxed lunch. Information and registration: 410- 467-6194.Pub Date: 9/29/98

Chicago.--It is time for those who are not Roman Catholic to suspend their efforts to explain what Catholicism is to us who are Catholics -- as many in the media attempted to do during the latest popery festival.I had a (friendly) argument with Sam Donaldson on ABC. He had always understood, he said, that Catholicism is a list of doctrines and rules that you have to accept to be Catholic. If you don't accept them, then you're not a Catholic. Kind of an extended loyalty test.Wrong!I understand his problem.

A Midwestern Roman Catholic bishop has struck a responsive chord among some Maryland Catholics. He recently compared his church to a "dysfunctional family" because it refuses to consider the laity's views on birth control."

Church needs wider dialogue with the laity John Rivera and Kimberly Wilson were right on the mark when they characterized "the pressure from the ordinary people of the church" that brought down Cardinal Bernard Law as "quintessentially American" ("Outraged Catholic laity urges accountability from the pulpit," Dec. 15). The movement that began in Boston and is gaining momentum throughout the country is complete with revolutionary themes and heroes who should serve as models for Catholics here in Baltimore.

It was no blinding flash that brought Jim Mendello to St. Mary's Seminary and University to study for the priesthood, but "the dawning realization of something I felt called to do."The 31-year-old Paterson, N.J., native, said he could have found no better place than the landmark institution in Roland Park, which today celebrates its bicentenary as the first American seminary of any denomination, "America's Mother Seminary."Today's festivities will include a symposium by 40 to 50 bishops and a lecture at St. Mary's; a special bicentenary Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and a banquet this evening at the Hyatt Hotel at the Inner Harbor.

Church needs wider dialogue with the laity John Rivera and Kimberly Wilson were right on the mark when they characterized "the pressure from the ordinary people of the church" that brought down Cardinal Bernard Law as "quintessentially American" ("Outraged Catholic laity urges accountability from the pulpit," Dec. 15). The movement that began in Boston and is gaining momentum throughout the country is complete with revolutionary themes and heroes who should serve as models for Catholics here in Baltimore.

By Donna W. Payne and Donna W. Payne,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | December 20, 2002

In the small town of Greccio, Italy, almost 800 years ago, St. Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas with a live Nativity scene -- a simple portrayal of the birth of Jesus with cattle and donkeys brought in from nearby farms. "I wish to do something that will recall to memory the little Child who was born in Bethlehem and to set before our bodily eyes in some way, the inconveniences of his infant needs, how he lay in a manger, how, with an ox and an ass standing by, he lay upon hay where he had been placed," Francis is recorded to have said, according to an early biographer, Thomas of Celano.

By John Rivera and Kimberly A. C. Wilson and John Rivera and Kimberly A. C. Wilson,SUN STAFF | December 15, 2002

From the lawsuits that forced the most damaging revelations of sexual abuse in Boston, to an Irish Catholic judge who made them public, to the uprisings of laity and priests demanding his resignation, the forces that finally brought down Cardinal Bernard F. Law were quintessentially American. For a church whose members for generations were expected to docilely "pay, pray and obey," the sexual abuse crisis has outraged and energized a Catholic laity who are demanding accountability from their leaders.

AND NOW, having read the sordid details from the police report, we regard the pathetic pastor of St. Clement I Catholic Church, caught in a lie of fear and desperation, his license to practice suspended, his whereabouts for a week known but to his attorney and, one assumes, God. All because he did that which his vows forbid him to do, and allegedly lied to a Baltimore County police officer to cover it up. Another one bites the dust, and while the development...

As members of Holy Korean Martyrs parish recently commemorated the first year at the church's new Woodlawn site, what should have been a cause for celebration instead found the Baltimore area's only Roman Catholic Korean parish deeply divided.A sizable minority of Holy Korean Martyrs' parishioners are demanding the ouster of their leader, the Rev. Joseph Y. Kim, accusing him of fiscal and administrative mismanagement and of overstaying his welcome.Kim, his supporters and the Archdiocese of Baltimore say the allegations lack merit.

The Central Maryland Ecumenical Council will explore and celebrate the role of women in laity and the clergy in a one-day conference, "Women in Churches," on Friday.The conference will begin with a 9 a.m. worship service and feature workshops and discussions before closing at 2 p.m. with prayer and song. It will be held at Grace United Methodist Church, 5407 N. Charles St.Men are welcome. A $10 registration fee includes a boxed lunch. Information and registration: 410- 467-6194.Pub Date: 9/29/98

AND NOW, having read the sordid details from the police report, we regard the pathetic pastor of St. Clement I Catholic Church, caught in a lie of fear and desperation, his license to practice suspended, his whereabouts for a week known but to his attorney and, one assumes, God. All because he did that which his vows forbid him to do, and allegedly lied to a Baltimore County police officer to cover it up. Another one bites the dust, and while the development...

Sister Marie Cecilia Irwin, president of St. Joseph Hospital in Towson since 1975, became part of a trend this summer -- the transfer of much of the work of the Roman Catholic Church from a dwindling number of priests and sisters to a dedicated laity.She was succeeded by John S. Prout, the first lay person in the medical center's 130 years to hold its chief executive position.Forty nuns were assigned to the hospital when Sister Marie Cecilia took over its management. Now, fewer than half that number are among the 2,381 employees at St. Joseph, one of 12 medical centers in the nation sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.

Sister Marie Cecilia Irwin, president of St. Joseph Hospital in Towson since 1975, became part of a trend this summer -- the transfer of much of the work of the Roman Catholic Church from a dwindling number of priests and sisters to a dedicated laity.She was succeeded by John S. Prout, the first lay person in the medical center's 130 years to hold its chief executive position.Forty nuns were assigned to the hospital when Sister Marie Cecilia took over its management. Now, fewer than half that number are among the 2,381 employees at St. Joseph, one of 12 medical centers in the nation sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.

Chicago.--It is time for those who are not Roman Catholic to suspend their efforts to explain what Catholicism is to us who are Catholics -- as many in the media attempted to do during the latest popery festival.I had a (friendly) argument with Sam Donaldson on ABC. He had always understood, he said, that Catholicism is a list of doctrines and rules that you have to accept to be Catholic. If you don't accept them, then you're not a Catholic. Kind of an extended loyalty test.Wrong!I understand his problem.